The girl's mother bowed deeply to Captain Cyril.
"...Duke Sutherland, thank you so much for helping my daughter the other day. But I was so rude to you, and I am so, so sorry!"
After hearing the apology, Captain Cyril looked at the mother in surprise, but then his expression softened, and he spoke in a gentle voice.
"Don't worry about it. If your precious child is in danger, anyone would lose their cool and act unusually. I'm just glad your daughter is safe." (Cyril)
When the mother heard Captain Cyril's words, she began to tremble.
"What a noble and kind lord! And yet, how rude I was to you! It wasn't until I got home and heard from your daughter how brave and kind you were that I realized how foolish my actions were. I am truly sorry!"
Captain Cyril smiled awkwardly and replied, "It's only natural for a knight to do this," and gently asked her to end her apology.
Then, as Captain Cyril looked at the girl, the girl let go of her mother's hand and walked towards the Captain. Like a conditioned reflex, Captain Cyril bent down to meet the girl's eye level.
The girl stopped in front of the Captain and took out a yellow fruit bigger than his fist from her skirt pocket.
"Thank you for saving me from the scary monster. These are very delicious fruits." (Girl)
The Captain's expression calmed as he saw the girl smiling brightly and offering him fruit with both hands.
"Yes, it's the fruit you told me about in the forest the other day. You said that you had to pick it while it was still green and let it ripen because the birds would eat it, right?" (Cyirl)
"Ripe?" (Girl)
"These fruits have become even more delicious because you left them for a while after harvesting them. Thank you for taking the time to make them delicious for me." (Cyril)
Seeing the Captain smiling brightly, the girl happily slapped the fruit on her hand at him.
"Be delicious, be delicious" (Girl)
The captain laughed happily, took a knife from his chest and placed it against the fruit. He spun the fruit around, neatly splitting it in half, then offered one of the halves to the girl.
"So, shall we just eat half each?" (Cyril)
The girl snuggled up close to the captain, took a bite of her share of fruit, and murmured happily, "It's delicious, isn't it?" The captain also took a bite and replies, "It's delicious, you see." The mother, watching the scene, muttered, "What an incredibly kind lord! I wonder if he's a spirit at this point?"
Hahaha, Captain, there are some interesting rumors going around. A great saint and a spirit, what a wonderful combination.
Afterwards, many people came to visit us and we had fun chatting with them, when it seemed time for the dance offering, and the dancers came out onto the stage. As in festivals, the dancers were adult women and began to dance loudly. They were twisting their body so skillfully that it must be the jellyfish dance.
Thinking back, I remembered how I had suffered a lot during the Great Saint Festival because I had called this dance the "Dolphin Dance," and I glanced over at Chief Radek, who was sitting nearby.
"Chief Radek, I heard that in festivals held by the people of remote islands, it is customary to dance the most important dance first. Are jellyfish important to you people?" (Fia)
I asked something I had always wondered about.
Chief Radek nodded vigorously as if to confirm my question.
"That is correct, Your Holiness. 300 years ago, when the Great Saint saw the dance we performed, she declared it to be the 'Jellyfish Dance.' Since then, the jellyfish dance has become important to us." (Chief)
"...Huh? But it was actually a dolphin dance, right?" (Fia)
The chief's answer gave me a bad feeling.
"It doesn't matter what dance we actually performed 300 years ago. What's important is that the Great Saint said it was a jellyfish. If that's so, then it was a jellyfish dance. Since then, we have offered the jellyfish dance as our highest-ranking dance." (Chief)
"N-no, that's just calling black white, eh?! Hey, are you really going to go that far for the Great Saint?" (Fia)
I raised my voice in a panic, but no one there supported my words.
Captain Cyril, who was impartial in all things, had an expression on his face that could be interpreted as either approval or disapproval, while Commander Savis remained silent. When the highest-ranking people in the country intentionally put on a poker face, it was impossible to read their minds.
Only Captain Curtis enthusiastically, saying, "I believe I am in line with the Great Saint's wishes" and nodded his head.... Normally I would have been wary of what he was saying, but in this particular situation, I thought that compared to Commander and Captain Cyril, he was easy to understand and adorable.
If my superiors are keeping quiet, then it would be wrong for me to protest, right? I thought that and stay silent. Instead, I decided to enjoy the dances that the residents performed one after another.
Oh, when I thought about how I missed this 300 years ago, a feeling wells up in my heart, along with the beauty of the dance. I felt like I had caught a glimpse of the feelings and traditions that the residents of Sutherland had accumulated over the years, and as I clutched my chest and tried to fight the overwhelming emotion, I was called out to by Chief Radek.
"...Your Holiness, is there something that displeases you?" (Chief)
Apparently, the chief had misunderstood me because I had a tense expression on my face.
"No, I was just overwhelmed by how wonderful it was. Ah... People from remote islands have inherited such wonderful traditions." (Fia)
I looked at the chief and spoke my honest thoughts. The chief then looked at me with a dazzled expression.
Then, the chief opened his mouth to say something, ——but at that moment, a gust of wind blew, shaking the surrounding trees. Accompanied by this, many long, brightly colored pieces of cloth hanging from the tree branches began to flutter in the wind all at once.
"Oh, the Spirit has returned!"
"Welcome back, big brother!"
"Dad, I've prepared your favorite drink for you."
The residents spoke their feelings towards the sky, some smiling at the fluttering cloth, while others bowed their heads and began to pray. There, residents were seen sincerely mourning the loss of their loved ones.
...After each moment had passed, a quiet silence fell upon them, and Captain Cyril muttered to himself, gazing into the sky.
"What a wonderful way to commemorate my family. ...I was born here and raised here. Ever since I was born, I have witnessed the honesty and hard work of the people of Sutherland. And so... I became a knight to protect this country and its people." (Cyril)
When Captain Cyril stopped speaking, silence fell upon the place once again. The residents seemed to be listening in silence to what Captain Cyril had to say. Whether he was aware of their gazes or not, the captain continued speaking with a determined look on his face.
"I may have shortcomings as a lord, but there is no mistaking the reason why I am here. I am—— here to protect." (Cyril)
Captain Cyril's voice was quiet, but it carried a sincere tone that seemed to strike a chord with the residents present. After the residents heard what Captain Cyril had to say, they lowered their eyes slightly and nodded slightly.
Meanwhile, Chief Radek, who was sitting next to him, spoke up to Captain Cyril.
"Duke Sutherland, we made a mistake 10 years ago. However, we will not forget that mistake, and we will not hold any grudges. Instead, we will use it as a lesson and build a new relationship." (Chief)
I later heard that this was the first time that the chief had mentioned "Sutherland's Lament" in an official setting. Therefore, Captain Cyril, who must have understood this, looked at the chief in shock the moment he heard his words.
The chief continued speaking with a calm expression.
"The Duke lost his parents one after the other during the turmoil ten years ago. I'm sure he had some thoughts about it, but he never once blamed us, and never missed our annual visits to console us. And this time...he even brought the Great Saint with him, and saved this clan from a new path of destruction. Now, I can only be grateful to the Duke." (Chief)
The silence that followed seemed to be an indication of affirmation from the residents.
As if to break the silence, Captain Cyril's voice rang out.
"...Thank you, Chief. Yes, in this new relationship, I promise to fulfill my role as a lord." (Cyril)
Captain Cyril's beautiful smile told of the captain's happiness.
Seeing the residents one by one begin to smile, as if drawn by the captain's smile, made me truly happy.
...Ah, thank goodness. There were no bad people among the people of Sutherland or Captain Cyril, but the fact that they couldn't get along was wrong. Look, I was touched by both the sincerity of the residents and the kindness of the captain!
As the entire venue was enveloped in a warm atmosphere, suddenly, as if by inspiration, one woman cried out loud.
"...I was just thinking, isn't Duke Sutherland the reincarnation of the Blue Knight, who was the guardian knight of the Great Saint 300 years ago?"
"What?"
Behind, Captain Curtis opened his eyes wide, as Captain Cyril was dumbfounded at the sudden, unexpected remark.
"Wh-what a stupid thing to say...!"
However, the residents became excited and began to affirm what the woman had said.
"Oh, I thought the same! When the Great Saint fell into the sea, the Duke immediately jumped in to save her, and even after that he continued to stand beside her and support her, so to me the Duke looked like nothing more than an escorting knight!"
"In the first place, bringing the Great Saint to this land is exactly the same as what the Blue Knight did 300 years ago!"
"Yes, yes, isn't it precisely because you are the 'Blue Knight' that you have been reborn as the lord of this land?!"
"No, no, no, that's not true! The Blue Knight is not the type to put on a poker face and make it hard to tell what he's thinking! He's not the type to be a noble from head to toe! And besides, he's always been by Lady Fi's side!" (Curtis)
Captain Curtis forgot his position and began to say what he wanted to say.
However, the residents have responded with further rebuttals, creating a vicious cycle.
...Wh-what should I do about this? At this point, I no longer knew how to resolve the situation, but in an attempt to stop Captain Curtis, I pulled on the captain's arm, who was desperately arguing. Then, I bent over to Captain Curtis, put my mouth to his ear and whispered.
"Curtis, calm down. You were the one who originally suggested that we take advantage of the residents' misunderstanding. Wouldn't it be better to leave it as it is so that the residents would accept Captain Cyril?" (Fia)
"That's true, but, Lady Fi's guardian knight is..." (Curtis)
Captain Curtis retorted, not seeming at all convinced.
"Besides, if you think about it from Captain Cyril's point of view, you would no doubt think, 'If I can believe that I, who have no connection to the Blue Knight, am his reincarnation, then of course Fia has no connection to the Great Saint either!' Isn't that killing two birds with one stone?" (Fia)
"That's true, but, this is really..." (Curtis)
Ignoring Captain Curtis who was desperately trying to argue as if he couldn't accept it, I looked at Captain Cyril and smiled.
"Fia, calm down for a moment..." (Cyril)
The perceptive Captain Cyril seemed to sense something ominous in my smile and quickly tried to stop me, but I pretended not to hear and spoke louder than usual.
"Captain Cyril! Whenever I see Captain, I always feel nostalgic, but that's because Captain is Canopus, right!" (Fia)
The residents who heard what I was saying erupted in cheers.
"I thought so! Ah, the Great Saint has approved of the escort knight!"
"Oh, what a wonderful story to have the Blue Knight as your lord!!"
Among the excited shouts of the residents, Commander Savis was chuckling softly, Captain Curtis was standing there in shock, —and then, Captain Cyril was sporting a startlingly beautiful smile.
"Well done, Fia." (Cyril)
However, there was a surprising amount of resentment in the softly muttered voice of Captain Cyril.
Author's Note
Thank you for always reading!
This time, let me make two announcements.
[Volume 1 of the comic will be released on Saturday, April 11th!]
The comic has been carefully adapted to stay faithful to the flow of the novel.
I think it's very interesting because the composition and layout are excellent, the illustrations are beautiful, and it's easy to read.
It's interesting in a different way to a novel, so I hope you'll pick it up if you're interested.
*The cover and comic page Rin are posted at the bottom of this page.
[The web novel will be taking a few breaks]
I am truly sorry!
As the third volume of the novel will be published, I will be writing an additional 50,000 characters (about 12 issues of the web version) as additional book content and bonuses, so I would appreciate it if you could give me some time.
*Thank you to everyone who requested it for a special bonus!
I will be back as soon as possible, so please wait for me.
I'm sorry I can't do both at the same time.
Thank you very much for your cooperation.